10 Best engines of 2008

By -
Wards has released their list of the ten best (below a car price cap of $50,000 or so) engines. The price cap means that Godzilla (the GT-R) and the Vette dont make the list, but a lot of good ones do. Below is the list, with my commentary.

  • Audi AG: 2.0L TFSI turbocharged DOHC I-4 (A4 Avant) - no two ways around it, this is a very nice, very smooth engine. The old 1.8T was good, but this thing is super smooth.
  • BMW AG: 3.0L turbocharged DOHC I-6 (135i Coupe) - hells yeah for twin-turboified v6's, the cultural successor to the 2.7t in my s4, and it is meant to be a great engine.
  • BMW AG: 3.0L DOHC I-6 Turbodiesel (335d) - Called amazing by Clarkson, this has to be a good diesel
  • Chrysler LLC: 5.7L Hemi OHV V-8 (Dodge Ram/Challenger R/T) - w00t w00t for the only American v8 on the list - this thing is a great engine and gets good mileage as well. Too bad it will probably be dead in a year, but right now, you can pick up a Ram for about 50% off list, and maybe get a PT Cruiser thrown in for free too.
  • Ford Motor Co.: 2.5L DOHC I-4 HEV (Escape Hybrid) Meh. It's on here because it is green. The new Fusion/Milan hybrid is way better (will get 45mpg in a full sized car).
  • General Motors Corp.: 3.6L DOHC V-6 (Cadillac CTS) Oh hell yeah. One of the main reasons the CTS is now a world class car, this thing should be dropped into performance versions of the General's other sporty cars... oh... wait... there are only 2 or 3.
  • Honda Motor Co. Ltd.: 3.5L SOHC V-6 (Accord Coupe) Boring.
  • Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd.: 4.6L DOHC V-8 (Genesis) Interesting. But its only going to be in the Genesis, and probably only 20% of Genesi will be sold with this engine. That said, it is a pretty sweet modern take on big V8 for v6 lexus bucks.
  • Toyota Motor Corp.: 3.5L DOHC V-6 (Lexus IS 350) Boring as any other Toyota - even though the IS 350 is meant to be a pretty good car, it will never compete with the 3 series or A4, because it is built by Toyota.
  • Volkswagen AG: 2.0L SOHC I-4 Turbodiesel (Jetta TDI) Seriously boring.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top 10 Ways to Not Suck at Driving

By -
Image
There are a lot of shitty drivers out there. Actually, most people are shitty drivers. They don't really know anything about cars, about driving, about limits of adhesion, how to react when things go badly, or what snow does to your ability to drive. In fact, most people think that driving slowly, regardless of what lane you are in, whether you are merging onto a highway or holding up 50 cars behind you, means "being a good driver." Just because you have spent many years driving in the left lane at 65mph does not make you a good driver, in fact, just the opposite. A good driver means you know how to drive, not that you have gotten lucky or simply average for the past 10 years. Personally, I would love to see a class in high school devoted to driving. I think it could be fun and informative while greatly reducing the number of accidents (especially fatal ones) on the roads every year. Right now, the driving exam is basically a joke, it means that you know what the pedals...
Read more